Are the dimensions of the booklets different as well?  They look narrow.

Howdy Stephen,

bombadil wrote:Are the dimensions of the booklets different as well?  They look narrow.

Yes, by 1/8". Also, the reference sheets are on a heavier cardstock, not paper. I had a Men & Magic show up in a lot I bought from the UK about 3 years ago. At a glance I could tell it was a different cover stock but the prices in the back were in dollars. So, not doing any white box, research or collecting at the time I tossed it in my parts box.

Now having a set in context from the original owner with a GW flier in it, makes me think it is a UK printing.

The flier (8.5 x 11 folded in half to make a 4-page booklet) that comes with the set is a UK version of Understanding D&D. It is written by Steve Jackson and has a keyed mini-dungeon and a map, along with a narration of the gameplay that takes place therein. This flier has the GW address on it and dates from April 1976 to November 1978, I'm guessing.

Futures Bright,

Paul

The Collector's Trove wrote:

Well.... When did they move to Uxbridge Rd.?

I think it was Aug. '76 (ish)

Are you sure there was a UK printing of OD&D?  I thought they were all imported from the US.  Could it be that the flyer was printed in the UK, and added to the box?

The Collector's Trove wrote:When did GW move from 97 Uxbridge Road to 1 Dalling Road? My guess is sometime between April of 1976 and November of 1978.

Sometime before March 1978.  (The UK 1st MM lists the address as 1 Dalling Road, and I've got the printing date on it narrowed down to between 12/77 and 03/78.  I don't much trust the dates provided in the books for the UK printings.)

The set is identical to a 5th print US but the cover stock is totally different.

I have one of these.  The cardstock has a grid-like pattern, and the GK logo on the Vol 2 is truncated at the bottom, right?

It's what Harami and I had been referring to as a "5A", as we came to the conclusion that it was printed right at the beginning of the 5ths -- it also lacks some of the faults/corrections introduced in the standard 5th.  I have an extensive list of differences somewhere, if you're interested.

This thread provides some help on the dates as well:

viewtopic.php?t=2642&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

So the "5A" is sometime between 02/76 and 06/76.

I originally thought it might have been a test print...you'll note, in comparison to a standard 5th, that the text blocks are much straighter and overall a better job was done in the printing of the booklets.  Of the two or three other copies I've seen on auction, they've all come from the UK.  My copy was found in Canada.

That's all the info I can think of, but if you need more assistance don't hesistate to ask.  

The Collector's Trove wrote:The flier (8.5 x 11 folded in half to make a 4-page booklet) that comes with the set is a UK version of Understanding D&D. It is written by Steve Jackson and has a keyed mini-dungeon and a map, along with a narration of the gameplay that takes place therein. This flier has the GW address on it and dates from April 1976 to November 1978, I'm guessing.

Nice find! This sounds pretty cool. Mini sample dungeons are always fun. How many rooms/encounters are there?

Howdy All,

deimos3428 wrote:Sometime before March 1978. (The UK 1st MM lists the address as 1 Dalling Road, and I've got the printing date on it narrowed down to between 12/77 and 03/78. I don't much trust the dates provided in the books for the UK printings.)

Hmm. Doesn't the 1st Print UK MM catalog list G1, G2, G3? That means the publication date has to be post 8/78 - as G1, G2, G3 were originally released at GenCon in August of 1978.

deimos3428 wrote:I have one of these.  The cardstock has a grid-like pattern, and the GK logo on the Vol 2 is truncated at the bottom, right?

Correct on both counts.

deimos3428 wrote:It's what Harami and I had been referring to as a "5A", as we came to the conclusion that it was printed right at the beginning of the 5ths -- it also lacks some of the faults/corrections introduced in the standard 5th.

Correct, my copy is also clean of those faults..

deimos3428 wrote:So the "5A" is sometime between 02/76 and 06/76.

Given the S&S Pamphlet included when it was purchased, the date has to be later than May 1976 but before GW moved from 97 Uxbridge Rd. to 1 Dalling Rd. in about April of 1978.

I really need to know when GW moved from 15 Bolingbroke Rd. to Uxbridge Rd. So far we have a guesstimate of 8/76.


Futures Bright,

Paul

Howdy,

zhowar wrote:Nice find! This sounds pretty cool. Mini sample dungeons are always fun. How many rooms/encounters are there?

20 encounters including the Dungeon Caretaker, an endless hall, and a space warp room that takes you to the (undescribed) level 4.


Futures Bright,

Paul

Regarding G1/G2/G3's presence in UKMM1...that's an excellent point.  I have had a few indications that the modules may have been promoted/advertised/printed well in advance of the actual release date, so I didn't take their release date heavily into account when dating the book.

Regarding the UK 5th:

You've indicated that the S&S Pamplet puts it after 05/06.  The catalog page puts it before 07/76.  S&S was released in 07/76 according to this site, so we should be after this date, unless the pamplet sounds "promotional" in which case we should be before.  I would lean towards 06/76.

I'm not sure where the August date is coming from, but we're getting pretty close.